LINKS

The Water Affairs department has given the developer of the Beach Club in Hout Bay 48 hours to explain why it should not issue a directive to stop all further in-filling of a wetland area, remove all the fill already dumped and levelled, and rehabilitate the site to its natural state.

The developer was given notice to stop all further in-filling in the wetland area in the Disa River estuary.

A notice to this effect was served yesterday on the development company, Really Useful Investments (Pty) Ltd, by “Blue Scorpion” Thando Stimela, a compliance, monitoring and enforcement official at the department’s regional head office in Bellville.

The notice, issued under the Water Act, is similar in intent to a notice the City of Cape Town served on the developer last month.

That notice, which alleged contraventions of the city’s stormwater management by-law, also ordered the developer to stop all further in-filling in the disputed wetland area in the Disa River estuary, and required it to remove all fill already placed within the 1:100-year flood plain.

For the first time in years the Quinera River at Bonza Bay has flowed into the sea, and although environmentalists are concerned about claims of people helping nature along, locals are happy the mouth has opened.

Quinera River flows to the sea. Photo: Alan Eason

While some residents say the recent heavy rains caused the river to flow into the sea, others claim a trench was dug.

“I think it is awesome that the river opened up because all the bottles and dirt from the river have been washed away,” said resident Antoinette Faye, who runs a kiosk at Bonza Bay. The river started opening up last week on Thursday, she added.

She could not confirm if this was caused by nature entirely, but said the heavy rains resulted in an overflow that covered the boardwalk.

“It went up by about half a metre on the boardwalk in the deepest section for about two to three days. People were dodging eels because they thought they were sea snakes,” said Faye.

“I think it’s a good thing. It needed to open up because of all the sewage and dirt , which needed to be washed out,” said Beacon Bay resident Judy Sanan.